No stoppin’ Stamps this time: Calgary breaks Grey Cup curse after two losses

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This article was published 25/11/2018 (2743 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — They had won more games than any other team in the Canadian Football League over the past three seasons, displaying a level of dominance rarely seen in the league’s 100-plus years.

But the Calgary Stampeders, who compiled a 41-11-2 record dating back to 2016, had little to show for it, unable to get the job done when it mattered most, when the stakes were at its highest. They had made it to the Grey Cup the last two years and the fact they were there again Sunday surprised no one.

But on this night, the stars would finally align and justice was served for the CFL’s best team. In front of a crowd of 55,187 at Commonwealth Stadium, the Stampeders finally broke their championship curse, beating the Ottawa Redblacks 27-16 to clinch the 106th Grey Cup.

“I got the best team in the world, the best organization in the world,” Calgary quarterback and Grey Cup MOP Bo Levi Mitchell told TSN’s Sara Orlesky immediately after the game. “I feel amazing tonight — I love this team, I love these fans, I love our city. Calgary, we’re bringing that Cup back home baby!”

Like the Stampeders had done all season long, it was a full-team effort against the Redblacks, with contributions coming from all three phases.

Mitchell, who, at 28 years old, was the third youngest quarterback to make a fourth start in the championship game, was productive but nothing like his usual stellar self. He didn’t need to be; at least not the kind of player Calgary demanded of him during the regular season, when the Stampeders receiving corps was decimated from injuries and yet he was still able to emerge at the league’s most outstanding player.

Mitchell had eclipsed 300-yards passing in all three of his previous Grey Cup appearances, though his performances were somewhat marred from a modest 1:1 touchdown-interception ratio, including five touchdowns and five interceptions over that stretch.

On Sunday, he was 24-for-36 passing for 253 yards and two touchdowns – a 21-yard screen pass to running back Don Johnson that opened the scoring late in the first quarter and another short pass to Lemar Durant that turned into a 17-yard score that put Calgary up 14-2 midway through the second.

Durant, who was named the game’s most outstanding Canadian, had dropped two passes earlier in the game. Still, Mitchell went back to him and it paid off with a trip to the end zone. For Durant, winning a Grey Cup was made extra special after years of injury problems that, at its worst, made him doubt what football future he had left.

“With the injuries and the recovery process, some days you don’t know if you’ll ever be back,” Durant, who finished with four catches for 30 yards and added a 22-yard run, said. “You get those thoughts in your head wondering if you’ll ever be the same player and then to come back and win this award and win it with a team and coaches that believed in me, I can’t explain how much it means to me.”

On special teams, it was the play of returner Terry Williams that will be remembered, including one special moment in the dying seconds before halftime that rewrote the history books.

Clinging to just a three-point lead, Williams retrieved a Richie Leone punt and returned it back 97 yards, taking advantage of a slippery turf to go untouched to the end zone and give the Stampeders a 21-11 edge at halftime.

“I thought I was gonna bust my butt for a second but I caught myself, saw an opening and hit it full speed,” said Williams. “It was big, we needed the spark. We were battling all game and needed to make it happen and that we did.”

“Listen to me, his score — whenever on special teams — but to score with one second left in the half, that’s big time,” added Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson. “The field was slippery, no doubt, and some plays were more difficult that others. I think both offences would say that they had to adjust to what we were trying to do and sometimes it’s about just first downs, not anything fancy, and ultimately I thought those special teams I thought were huge.”

When Calgary needed to lock down a prolific Redblacks offence that was led by quarterback Trevor Harris, it was the Stampeders defence that was up to the challenge, coming through with a number game-changing plays.

In total, the defence forced six turnovers, including three interceptions – two coming in Ottawa’s last few drives as they desperately tried to mount a comeback.

“For our defensive backs to step up with those interceptions, it gave us a chance to ice it,” said Dickenson.

If the Redblacks were going to have any chance to defeat Calgary, like they did two years ago to claim the 2016 Grey Cup, it was going to be through the arm of Harris. Harris was just one week removed from completing 90 per cent of his passes and throwing for six touchdowns — both CFL playoff records — in a win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East final.

But the Stampeders are not the Ticats, and they proved how dominant their defence could be in a 22-14 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West final, a game the Bombers were unable to score a single touchdown. And like quarterback Matt Nichols and the Bombers, Harris struggled to find a rhythm.

Ottawa running back William Powell paced all backs with 94 yards on 16 carries (Calgary’s Don Jackson had 14 carries for 53 yards). Harris completed just 20 of his 38 passes (53 per cent) for 288 yards and one touchdown compared to three interceptions.

Harris’ lone throw that reached the end zone was a 55-yard touchdown pass on the first play of Ottawa’s eighth series, the ball falling into the arms of former Bombers receiver Julian Feoli-Gudino. The play seemed to shift the momentum towards the Redblacks, cutting the Stampeders lead to 14-11 with 2:15 left in the second quarter. But that was quickly erased with Williams’ long jaunt to the end zone minutes later.

Calgary’s defence was ranked at or near the top of every statistical category during the regular season, including tied for the best turnover ratio (plus-13) and most takeaways (49). They were 11-0 in games they won the turnover battle this year, and, since 1952, the team that’s won the turnover battle in the Grey Cup was 46-5 – now 47-5, as the Stampeders edged the Redblacks in that area, 7-2. They also dominated in time of possession, having the ball a full 10 minutes longer than Ottawa (35:17 to 24:43).

Ottawa was limited to 379 net yards of offence, which was actually 40 yards fewer than the 339 Calgary put up. But interceptions from Ciante Evans, Jamar Wall and Tre Roberson, along with fumble forced fumbles by Wall, Jameer Thurman and Riley Jones were simply too much to handle.

The Redblacks posted just one field goal in the final two quarters, when kicker Lewis Ward – the CFL’s rookie of the year and most outstanding special teams player – cut into Calgary’s lead, 21-14, midway through the third quarter. Ward finished the night 2-for-3, missing a 48-yarder on Ottawa’s last drive of the first quarter.

Calgary, who lost to the Toronto Argonauts last season’s title game, is now exactly where they’re supposed to be, where they imagined when the final curtain closed on the 2018 season. With their future as uncertain as any in the CFL, with a looming expiring collective bargaining agreement ahead of the 2019 campaign, the Stampeders will be sure to enjoy this one.

Because they know even when you’re the best, nothing is guaranteed.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton